On Pregnancy

The thought of being a mom:

About 9 months ago, Ben and I found out that I was pregnant. Being a mom has been a dream of mine since college. When asked what my dream job was, I would simply say, "being a mom." I can tell you that the feeling of this desire would come and go for the first couple years of our marriage. I remember getting nauseous  in the 8th grade when they made us watch the birthing video. Fast forward to Ben and I's first year of marriage. We both had great jobs in Alaska and were simply living the young adventurers dream life. I remember being at a teacher in-service in Russian Mission, Alaska and one of my good friends/coworkers had a friend who was live streaming her birth from the lower 48. I could not believe that anyone would do this for starters, but I proceeded to watch with my friend anyway. This lady was in her earlier stages of labor, but once again I found myself getting nauseous. At that point I realized I wasn't ready yet. A couple of years passed and I found myself with that deep desire to be a mom. The desire started to outweigh my fears of the birthing process. I think God has slowly been helping me wrap my head around childbirth and I now see it as such a beautiful thing. In fact, a couple of weeks ago, Ben and I were taking a childbirth class at our hospital and we once again found ourselves watching a video of a live birth. Instead of feeling nauseous, I had a feeling of excitement. Instead of feeling nauseous, I had tears in my eyes as the baby was being born. It was simply beautiful!

On finding out I was pregnant:

9ish months ago I was at a retirement party for a co-worker of mine and was enjoying an ice cold Blue Moon....oh how I miss being able to drink a beer or have a glass of wine. Anyway, I remember driving home (don't worry mom, I only had one) and just feeling a little bit different. Like, what if I'm pregnant different. I called Ben and asked him if I should buy a pregnancy test. He said, "ahh, I would just wait." Well, I didn't listen and went and got a test anyway. I got home and took it. Ben and I walked into the bathroom together and sure enough, I was pregnant! We kind of looked at each other, smiled, and walked into the living room like oh my gosh. We were in shock! The next day one of my good friends who is also a teacher decided to take a personal day from work and head up to Duluth. Ben and I discussed not telling anyone and letting this be our little secret for awhile, but then my friend asked if I wanted to go to this brewery for a beer. I looked at her with this puzzled look like oh crap, I can't have beer now that I know. I also can NOT lie. She knew. So started our adventure!

On pregnancy so far: 

First Trimester: I was tired. Oh was I tired. Ben and I would be out gardening and I would come in to get a drink of water and he would come in half an hour later and I was asleep on the couch. I had zero energy 24/7. I rarely had morning sickness. I can remember three times of having it. I will spare the details don't worry. We also told our families around 8 ish weeks of being pregnant. I wasn't having any cravings at that point. Ben of course was. I did crave fresh fruit, but I don't think that had to do with being pregnant, because I always want fresh fruit.

Second Trimester: During the second trimester I started gaining some of my energy back. I also started gaining a little bit of a stomach. I think it was just enough for people to wonder if I was gaining weight or if I could be pregnant. Around 12 weeks we told the world that we were expecting. That was such a fun and encouraging time for us. It made everything feel a little bit more real. I always envisioned our first child being a boy. As time went on though I thought, nope, I feel like this is going to be a girl. Ben and I went to our gender scan and sure enough, we were having a girl. Such a great feeling knowing and knowing that we would call her Ruby. Ruby is Ben's grandma who just turned 100 years old this year! During this trimester I started feeling her move around a little bit. It felt a bit like popcorn popping in my stomach. Again, no crazy cravings...just fresh fruit.

Third Trimester: During the third trimester I have been teaching Kindergarten in Big Lake. It was probably been one of the most difficult jobs I have taken on. What has kept me getting though has been knowing that I get to be a mom in January.  I have felt pretty good in the third trimester. During this trimester I have felt her more and more and every time I feel her I count it a true blessing. Even when she jabs me in the ribs. I have also found myself being more tired, much like the first trimester. I have found myself doing a little waddle, which I swore I never would do. Oh well. I have had heart burn, which I never have experienced before in my life. Pregnancy brain. HOLY COW do I believe in it. I feel like a blonde bimbo much of the time. I will ask Ben the same question over and over. I still haven't had any strange cravings.

I feel like I could write forever on this new journey, but this post is getting long. I'm 36 weeks and due January 27th. I will try and update the blog every week until our sweet baby girl is here. Then, it is my plan to document our new adventures of parenthood. We ask for your prayers that Ruby would be born at the right time and that she would be healthy. We love her so much already and can't wait to meet her! Here are a couple of pictures from when I was around 10 weeks pregnant and a 36 week shot.